The National President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr Rotimi Oladele, is a delegate to the National Conference. In this chat with Assistant Editor DADA ALADELOKUN, he reflects on the conference and its relevance to the future of the country.
To an average Nigerian, the National Conference is a mere jamboree. Do you see it in that light?
Indeed, one would not begrudge anybody who feels that way in the light of our past experiences with past conferences. Possibly they didn’t feel their impacts, but I wouldn’t want them to be discouraged because time changes. I think it was obvious from the beginning that President Goodluck Jonathan was determined to see Nigeria better than we met it and he put up this conference because the way the people therein were selected obviously proved that it was a serious intention, apart from political, cultural and ethnicity interests. That the disabled, youths, the elderly and professional groups like us are well represented speaks volumes. I don’t belong to any political party; so are some of my colleagues. Majority of the chartered bodies are there. Also, there are a lot of other professionals who also represent other interests; that means that we are looking for objectivity, fairness and good development propositions. So, I think it is a hopeful one.
What has been your experience?
The experience is a mixed grill. One, the conference itself is a platform which I always refer to on the floor as equal treatment for all unequals and unequal treatment for all equals. At times, if possible, you don’t have some kind of expectation or relationship or the class or group you are supposed to belong to; at times, you may not even be given access to talk and that also was because of the number – 492 delegates! So you can expect that you have twenty four hours in a day – 9 a.m to 6 p.m to operate. Initially, it was 10 a.m to 6 p.m. There is no way the chairman can call 492 to talk in a day. So, obviously, there will rule of the tongue; there will also be unequal treatment for all equals.
Then also, in terms of who we are, we are Nigerians of different backgrounds, perspectives, categories, ages, qualifications and professions. We also have murderers, kidnappers, ex-prisoners, looters, pastors, imams and traditional rulers. There is no caliber of Nigerians we don’t have. They are free people today because the ambit of the law must have forgiven them. The thinking is that with those experiences, even when negative, they should be able to offer positive thinking. For those who have never had that kind of experiences, if somebody has embezzled N1 billion and he realises that now that he is no longer in office and even with that money, he is living in one room, sleeping on one bed, eating only three meals pay day, wearing one or two clothes in one day, he will just see that it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t immunize him against death and sicknesses; so, he hasn’t changed. I think that kind of thinking should bring them back to sanity.
What other lesson?
Apart from the ordinariness of human beings, I realised that the best thing is to do well. Whatever you do trails you all round and through your history. Somebody stood up to say when he was a governor, he did this, he did that; he has not sat down when three of four hands were raised up and said “but you were the same person who did this and that damage.” They counted about five or six which he could not disprove.
Do you see some misgivings marring the outcome of the conference?
I believe the interest of Nigeria must come first. Anybody looking at recommendations reached from the perspective of his political party, his ethnic group, gender or age group is not interested in the future of the country. We can’t have 100 percent consensus on every issue. Just like MKO Abiola described what leadership is about. Team work and leadership are agreements to work on what the majority agrees to be the best for the society. It doesn’t mean there is no minority. Even when the minority has reasonable ideas, when the majority decides that this is where we are going, leadership and team work behoves them to work together on the agreed agenda to push the society forward. So, that is the way every Nigerian should see the recommendations of the conference. Also, the president should realise that these recommendations are of three different kinds.
He should implement the ones that are advisory and suggestive without waiting for anything, he should implement. That will start impacting almost immediately on the society. The second are those that may require constitutional touches which have to go through legal processes through the National Assembly. The assembly should please do the same by not also looking at those recommendations from political and partisanship platform, but in the interest of this country.
They should equally consider the time element. Even when they affect them negatively, they should know that they will not be in the House or Senate forever. They should know that, if something that is good is now avoided because it will affect them, they should realise that they have left it behind for generations unborn. Somebody must pay the price of change. If I am a senator and a decision taken now affects me and I can sacrifice and make a preventive measure against it for future generations, I have made my contributions, although I lose money, prestige or whatever. That is the way we should look at it. Lastly, if we must go for referendum, which is very expensive because every Nigerian of voting age must be part of it, we can quickly decide on what item will go further and we do it along with the general elections to make it cheaper.
